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Australia's in-form T20I team has a chance to salvage the disastrous tour of England

Billy Stanlake of Australia celebrates with his team after taking the wicket of Tom Bruce of New Zealand during game one of the International Twenty20 series between Australia and New Zealand at Sydney Cricket Ground on February 3, 2018 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
Expert
27th June, 2018
30

Australia will get a rest from their one-day woes tomorrow when they return to T20Is, a format in which they currently have scorching form.

The Aussies may be in their deepest ODI form trough of the modern era but in T20Is their outlook is cheerful – they own a commanding 13-5 win-loss record stretching back to March 2016.

Four months ago, Australia bossed both England and New Zealand to cruise to victory in the Twenty20 tri-series played across Australia and New Zealand. The side recorded two easy wins over England before thumping the Kiwis in the final.

That series also saw Australia complete the highest successful run chase in Twenty20 history when they ran down 243 against New Zealand with seven balls to spare.

Australia’s dominance in that series was based on the dynamic batting of Glen Maxwell (233 runs at an average of 116 and strike rate of 166) and D’Arcy Short (196 runs at 49, strike rate 150). Meanwhile, regular opener Aaron Finch adapted well to his new middle order role, making 74 runs from just 32 balls without being dismissed in the series.

Short opened alongside Australia’s most accomplished T20 batsman, David Warner, in that series but with Warner banned Short is likely to team up tomorrow with rookie wicketkeeper-batsman Alex Carey. Short and Carey were the top two runscorers in last summer’s Big Bash League, with the former creaming 572 runs at 57 (strike rate 148) and the latter hoarding 443 runs at 49 (strike rate 141).

Alex Carey

Carey’s potency at the top of the order in T20s should allow Australia to play five bowlers, with Ashton Agar batting at seven. Glenn Maxwell, Travis Head and Aaron Finch could fill positions three through five in the batting line-up, though in what exact order they’ll appear is hard to predict and could well depend on the state of the innings.

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Australia’s options to bat number six are thin, with all-rounder Marcus Stoinis and batsman Nic Maddinson the only realistic choices in the 14-man squad. Neither is a particularly attractive option – Stoinis has a very ordinary career T20 batting record (average of 22, strike rate of 120), as does Maddinson (23 and 131 respectively).

At number seven, Agar is coming off a fine ODI series against England, in which he was one of the only Australians who enhanced their reputation. The left-arm spinner was the standout bowler in the aforementioned T20 tri-series, taking seven wickets at 16 and giving up just 6.38 runs per over.

Agar is likely to be part of a dual-spin attack alongside leggie Mitchell Swepson. The Queenslander was an odd choice for this series given he had a poor BBL, taking five wickets at 50 while maintaining a decent economy rate of 7.11 rpo.

But Australia only picked two spinners in this squad so Swepson looks set to make his international debut. Australia’s three specialist quicks will be Billy Stanlake and Andrew Tye plus one of the two Richardsons – Jhye and Kane.

Stanlake shapes as the key with the new ball after his blistering display against England in the final ODI. The 204cm express quick bowled with rare hostility, troubling all the England batsmen en route to figures of 3-35 from ten overs.

Billy Stanlake

T20 is Stanlake’s most familiar format, and in fact the same goes for most of the side’s bowlers in this match. Australia will be hoping they can bully England like they did four months ago and salvage a scrap of pride from this so-far disastrous tour.

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Australia’s best T20 XI

1. D’Arcy Short
2. Alex Carey (wk)
3. Glenn Maxwell
4. Travis Head
5. Aaron Finch (c)
6. Marcus Stoinis
7. Ashton Agar
8. Andrew Tye
9. Mitchell Swepson
10. Kane Richardson
11. Billy Stanlake

Australian T20 squad
D’Arcy Short, Alex Carey, Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell, Aaron Finch (c), Marcus Stoinis, Ashton Agar, Andrew Tye, Mitchell Swepson, Jhye Richardson, Billy Stanlake, Nic Maddinson, Jack Wildermuth, Kane Richardson

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